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| Profile of the Month - November 2004 | Adam Dawson |
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Adam Dawson, Mississippi Teacher Corps Class of 2003, hails from Leavenworth, Kansas. He attended college at St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland. St. John's College follows the Great Books program: a four-year required curriculum largely based on the studies of original sources. Classes are two-hour seminars based on that week's reading. Students start with Homer's "The Illiad" and "The Odyssey" freshman year and finish with Tolstoi's "War and Peace" and Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" in their senior year. Adam, who teaches Math at Raymond High School, studied math at St. John's by reading the original papers of Albert Einstein and Nikolay Lobachevskii.In preparing his application to the Mississippi Teacher Corps Adam wrote, “I want to teach because I have so much to learn and, at |
the same time, I have so much to share. During my tenure at St. John's College I learned the necessity of always approaching every situation with the understanding that there is much to gain.” Reflecting on that quote Adam says, “There is so much to learn about these kids and their lives. As a teacher you have to learn a certain amount of kindness and forgiveness. Patience and endurance pays off with kids who have trouble learning in different ways. Being patient and kind has led to a lot more peace for me and the students.” In his first year teaching 85% of Adam's students passed the state test compared to 49% the previous year. Adam is also a dedicated athlete. While at St. John's he served as captain of the football team, basketball team, soccer team, and marathon team. In his first year at Raymond High School Adam was the assistant basketball coach for the girls' team. The Mississippi Teacher Corps is a two-year program that recruits recent college graduates to teach in critical-shortage areas in the Mississippi Delta, in exchange for a full scholarship for a masters' degree in curriculum and instruction from the University of Mississippi . The program was founded in 1989 by Amy Gutman, a Harvard University graduate and Dr. Andy Mullins, currently the Special Assistant to the Chancellor of Ole Miss. Since 1989 more than 300 participants, reaching an estimated 4,500 students, have taught in critical-needs school districts as part of the Mississippi Teacher Corps. |
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